Eye and Dunsden is a largely rural

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the most southern part of the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

. It includes the villages of

Sonning Eye Sonning Eye is a hamlet on the River Thames in the Sonning Common ward of South Oxfordshire, England, in the civil parish of Eye & Dunsden (one of its four small settlements), at what is since 1974 the southernmost tip of Oxfordshire. Geography ...

, Dunsden Green and Playhatch and borders on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

with the village of

Sonning Sonning is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England, on the River Thames, east of Reading. The village was described by Jerome K. Jerome in his book ''Three Men in a Boat'' as "the most fairy-like little nook on the whole river". Geogr ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

connected via multi-span medieval

Sonning Bridge Sonning Bridge is a road bridge across the River Thames at Sonning, Berkshire. It links Sonning with Sonning Eye (Oxfordshire) and crosses the Thames on the reach above Shiplake Lock, just short of Sonning Lock. It is a brick arch bridge complet ...

(a series of bridges across channels, in sections replaced due to erosion and narrowness). Before 1866, Eye & Dunsden was part of the trans-county parish of Sonning. Up to 2003, the parish also included the western half of the village of

Binfield Heath Binfield Heath is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, south-southwest of Henley-on-Thames and northeast of Reading on a southern knoll of the Chiltern Hills. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 709. The vil ...

which was then joined with the rest of that village, previously in

Shiplake Shiplake consists of three settlements: Shiplake, Shiplake Cross and Lower Shiplake. Together these villages form a civil parish situated beside the River Thames south of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The river forms the parish bounda ...

, to create a new parish. To the west, it abuts Berkshire's county town

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. To the east is also the parish of Shiplake, the near part of which on the road to

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

is known as Shiplake Row.

Sonning Common Sonning Common is a village and civil parish in a relatively flat, former common land part of the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, centred west south-west of Henley-on-Thames and north of Reading. History During the English Civil War th ...

and the relatively early 2000s-created civil parish of Binfield Heath around that village rise to the north. In 2011 its population was 366, bar farmhouses, riverboats and caravans all grouped in the above three settlements.

Caversham Lakes Caversham Lakes is a set of lakes created through gravel extraction between the suburb of Caversham in Reading, Berkshire and the hamlet of Sonning Eye in Oxfordshire, just north of the River Thames and also refers to the sports buildings a ...

, including the

Thames and Kennet Marina The Thames and Kennet Marina is located at Caversham Lakes in south Oxfordshire, England, just north off the River Thames on the reach above Sonning Lock. It is just to the east of Caversham, a suburb in the north of Reading, Berkshire. The ma ...

Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake The Redgrave Pinsent Rowing Lake is a rowing lake in the United Kingdom, named after the Olympic rowers Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent. The lake and its boathouse are specifically designed for training use, and provide training, med ...

, Reading Sailing Club, Isis Water Ski Club, and

Sonning Works The Sonning Works are a gravel works owned by Lafarge, located near Sonning Eye, Oxfordshire, England. Overview The gravel works is positioned on the south side of the B478 Playhatch Road between Playhatch to the west and Sonning Eye on the ...

, are all on the Thames flood plain within the parish.

Berry Brook The Berry Brook is a stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or ...

starts close to the Redgrave-Pinsent Rowing Lake to the southwest, running northeast through the

floodplain past Playhatch, under the B478 Playhatch Road near the Sonning Works, before joining the river at

Hallsmead Ait Hallsmead Ait is an island in the River Thames in Berkshire, England. It is on the reach above Shiplake Lock near Lower Shiplake. The island is large and triangular shaped, forming a pair with The Lynch, a similar shaped island. It is uninh ...

. Eye & Dunsden features some ancient wooded parts of the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

and rolling farmland.

References

External links

Eye & Dunsden Parish Council
{{coord , 51.485, -0.926, type:city_region:GB, display=title South Oxfordshire District Sonning Civil parishes in Oxfordshire